1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cargo transfer assembly for delivering various types of cargo, including luggage, wheelchairs invalid scooters, etc., between a passenger boarding bridge for an aircraft and the ground or other supporting surface on which the passenger boarding bridge and/or aircraft is positioned. A lifting assembly includes a lift tray for containment of the cargo during transfer and a leveling assembly facilitates aligned positioning of the lift tray along an inclined or other correspondingly disposed portion of the boarding bridge when in a raised position, as well as a substantially level alignment with the supporting surface when in a lowered position.
2. Description of the Related Art
The popularity and resulting importance in air travel has long been established. As such, an increasing number of passengers travel by commercial airline in virtually all industrial and modernized counties throughout the world. With the ever increasing number of passengers, logistics such as, but not limited to, luggage and like passenger related cargo handling is a significant concern, affecting cost of operations as well as the passengers' perception of an airline's reliability and efficiency. Cargo handling facilities and procedures have been subjected to additional and more severe scrutiny due to the relatively recent threats of terrorism which in certain instances have been directly related to airline travel.
In order to assure profitability of airline operations, a predetermined number of passengers must be effectively accommodated within the passenger compartment of the airplane. At the same time, the airlines have attempted to design the baggage handling procedures to incorporate a certain degree of convenience by allowing passengers to have a restricted amount or number of “carry on” luggage. Such luggage, when appropriately sized may be stored within designated areas on the interior of the passenger cabin rather than being checked and stored in the cargo carrying facilities of an aircraft. However, a frequent occurrence during the loading of passengers is the collection of carry on luggage as well as other cargo such as wheelchairs, children's strollers and other personal or invalid vehicles at the entrance to the aircraft and at the aircraft access end of the passenger boarding bridge. Such personal luggage, wheelchairs, vehicles, etc., are oftentimes not capable of being efficiently and safely stored within the passenger compartment. As a result, such cargo must be transferred from the passenger boarding bridge to the tarmac, ground surface or other supporting surface on which a boarding bridge as well as the aircraft being boarded is located. The prior to departure, the collected luggage or other cargo is transferred to the cargo storage facilities normally found in the underbelly of the aircraft.
The transfer of cargo between an airport boarding bridge and the ramp level or ground surface is recognized as an ever increasing problem due, at least in part, to a lack of efficient cargo transferring facilities and procedures associated therewith. Such problems have been compounded by the fact that the cargo, having been stored in the cargo area of an aircraft, must then be returned to the boarding bridge where it is claimed or required for use once the aircraft has landed.
Past attempts to overcome this problem have at least initially involved the use of personnel wherein the cargo to be transferred was hand carried up and down access facilities normally mounted on the exterior of the boarding bridge. It was soon realized that such manual transfer procedures were too labor intensive, time consuming and generally inefficient. Succeeding attempts of cargo transfer of the type referred to include the installation and use of a baggage slide or chute structures, wherein cargo would be transferred by gravity along the slide or chute from the raised boarding bridge to the ground or supporting level. However, procedures and techniques associated with these known or conventional attempts resulted in frequent damage to the luggage or cargo being transferred and still did not totally eliminate the requirement of personnel to hand carry the luggage from the end of the baggage slide or chute to the cargo hold of the aircraft. Obvious disadvantages associated with these known attempts at cargo handling included the inability to return at least a portion of the luggage or cargo to the boarding bridge when such was found necessary, such as in the case of invalid or child carrying vehicles, etc.
Continued problems and inefficiencies associated with cargo transfer between the boarding bridge and the cargo hold of the aircraft led to more sophisticated transfer facilities and procedures primarily in the form of elevator type lift devices. As a result, cargo elevator assemblies were specifically structured to lift luggage and cargo, of the type set forth above, between the boarding bridge and ground or other supporting surface in the general vicinity of the aircraft. Known or conventional lift and/or elevator assemblies of this type, while representing at least a minimal improvement over the aforementioned manual and gravity transfer facilities, still include significant disadvantages and problems which render such facilities less than totally efficient or satisfactory.
By way of example, the cargo handling platforms of such known systems are sometimes considered to be inadequate for the transfer of different types of cargo such as, but not limited to, invalid scooters, personal wheelchairs or the like. Also, the elevator or lift framework associated with such known devices can typically be attached or connected to the boarding bridge only in limited areas where the surface or ramp area of the boarding bridge is not angularly oriented. The resulting disadvantage relates to the fact that the existence of inclined portions is prevalent in the vast majority of boarding bridges used in airports throughout the world. Also, the structural assemblies used to secure the elevator or lift assemblies to the boarding bridge are frequently cumbersome, complex, bulky and are frequently located at least partially beneath under portions of the boarding bridge. A danger of injuring personnel as well as possibly damaging an aircraft being serviced thereby exists.
Therefore, there is a significant and well recognized need in the airline industry for a cargo transfer assembly which efficiently and effectively serves to transfer a variety of different types of luggage, cargo, etc. between the passenger boarding bridge of an aircraft and the ground or supporting surface on which both the boarding bridge and the aircraft are disposed. Further, if developed, such a preferred cargo transfer assembly should be structured to be mounted on, connected to or otherwise associated directly with the boarding bridge in a manner which does not jeopardize the safety of personnel passing beneath or otherwise adjacent to the exterior of the boarding bridge.
Also, a preferred cargo transfer assembly should be capable of automatically assuming substantially level or aligned orientation with either the ground surface when in a lowered position or any angled or level surface of the passenger boarding bridge when in a raised position. A preferred or improved transfer assembly, once developed, should also incorporate a mobile cart having a cargo support surface thereon which is adaptable to hold a variety of different types of luggage or cargo and be otherwise structured to contain such cargo as the mobile cart is removed from the transfer assembly for mechanized carrying to the cargo hold of an aircraft. As such, an improved and preferred transfer assembly would overcome many, if not all, of the deficiencies, problems and inadequacies associated with known and conventional procedures and facilities conventionally used to transfer cargo in the airline industry.